users to advertise. Seems like a good idea.

This forum does a very solid job of policing itself regarding vendors.
I don't see what the big deal is other than one participant having a bug up their backside about "the rules", and their interpretation thereof.
And now, suddenly, its an issue.

One can count on this sites members to speak out about damn near anything...and then 18 - 30 pages later said issue is settled.
Anyone pushing subpar/inferior product would get shot down in a heartbeat because another Acs Nrtn member has already been there and done that.

Deet55 makes a great point regarding his biz interactions realized from within various forums.
Qualified vendors are proven and regarded respectfully.
Be it directly and straight forward or in a subtle manner, lots of small biz guys push their wares or services in here.
I'm glad they do and I could care less if it is "categorized properly" or not.

SteveA said:

Well.....an identified advertising area I can choose to look at or ignore.....yeah! I could go for that...

Of course, by paying VIP here I am already choosing to avoid a layer of advertising carried on this forum to those who don't pay,

Click to expand...

Good points regarding VIP membership and advertising.
I'm grateful for the insulation from all the pop-up crap and VIP allows me to offer a gesture of endorsement and support.
I also note long term members, 10 years or more, who do NOT support this site with VIP.
Just easier to let someone else pay up I suppose.
There's a lot of that going around these days.

As is, someone who offers a product within the forum pages also opens themselves and their products up to a critique. If it's junk or not, it will be found out either way and probably commented on. Generally, people are fair with the critiques, or others pipe up when it's not fair.

If things change, and there's a specific page to post products on (with comments and conversation allowed), it will invariably look a lot like the regular pages within the forum, just get a lot less traffic, and hence be less of a service to the forum members.

If one of those advertising threads turns into a pissing match between those who aren't advertisers, does the thread get locked? That would be a terrible result for the offerer.

The pickins are slim for people who are into these bikes, and slimmer still for people who are making products to improve these bikes. It can create great camaraderie or festering rivalries, but it's up to the individuals what world they want to live in. We're lucky to have the committed individuals we do, so we should try and support them all (despite our idiosyncrasies), and besides, camaraderie is way more fun.

I have a solution and will be implementing it in a week or 2.
Locking this thread